Bathing Suit Season (Nooooooooooooo!)

Yes ladies and gentleman, it is that time of year.  Bathing suit season.  Three words that strike fear into the heart of any woman who is not a supermodel or one of the Kardashian sisters.

Normally, I'm a bikini girl, but this year is my last bathing suit season in my twenties.  I have various thoughts on this.  The traditional side of me thinks that wearing a bikini after 30 is a fashion faux pas and that next year I should settle for a respectable one piece to cover up all my now 30 year old flaws.  The defiant and rebellious side of me thinks "no bikinis after 30?!?!?  who came up with that rule?!?!!?" and that I should be proud of my body and wear a bikini until I think it's time to look at one piece suits

What does the rational side of me think?  Well, after doing some research and thinking it over, anyone who is brave enough to wear a bikini should feel free to do it at any age.  I mean, if Helen Mirren can do it at more than twice my age (63!), then I have nothing to fear.

Just in case, I'm going to refer back to these pictures for inspiration any time I feel a little apprehensive about bathing suit season being here again:

Helen Mirren - age 63 (!)

Heather Locklear - age 46

Kim Catrall - Age 54

Valerie Bertinelli - Age 49

Tweet me: @lady_n_charge

All, I've just joined Twitter a few days back and slowing figuring it out.  If you want to follow me, I'm:

@lady_n_charge

Thanks for the love!

Miss M

https://twitter.com/#!/lady_n_charge

Pippa Middleton - Secret Style Icon

How many of you out there had heard of Pippa Middleton prior to the Royal Wedding this past April?   Hands up.  Anyone?  Anyone?

Well, if you're like me, I had no idea the now Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, had such a stylish younger sister.  Pippa continues to make a mark on the fashion world and on me.   I love her effortless looking style.  She's really got a good eye for interesting but classic pieces, pieces that now are flying off the shelves.  Her L.K. Bennett Anina bag seems to be a favourite and is out of stock in every colour except gold and Modalu has now even named a handbag after her(!).  It is also sold out but you can pre-order it here: 

http://www.modalu.com/product/bristol-medium-grab-pre-order

Here are some of my favourite looks of hers lately:

Looking casual and comfortable but uber stylish out and about in London.

I am loving the different shades of light grey for spring.  Instead of looking drab, she makes grey look fresh and light.

Another great dress, this time on vacation in Madrid after her duties as Maid of Honour.

Colour blocking is hot right now and Pippa is definitely on trend with this white, navy and green dress.  A key part of her look is great accessories, down to the quilted black laptop bag.

Gorgeous combination of tan, camel and a fun earthy print.    Utter style perfection.

These are a few of my favourite things!

A few years back, Oprah made talking about our favourite things popular again.  I remember watching one of her favourite things episodes and being overcome with envy by the amount of swag her audience members got that day.  I wanted the Burberry Trench!  And the gourmet goodies!  I wanted it all!

The funny thing was Oprah looked like she was having just as great a time talking about the things she loved as much as she did giving them away.  Who doesn't like talking about their favourite things?  Favourite things can give us comfort and reveal our passions to others.  

What are some of my favourite things right now?

Blogs:

I love beautiful clothes, shoes and purses, so one of my favourites is Purse Blog.  Not only do they feature the latest in designer bags to lust after, but they also recap my favourite reality show franchise:  the Real Housewives! 

http://www.purseblog.com/

Online Shopping:

Ebates is the most amazing online shopping website.  How it works:  sign into your Ebates.com account and from their homepage jump to thousands of the most popular online shopping websites including my favourites Sephora and Amazon.  Through Ebates, your purchases on these websites can either give you coupon codes to reduce your total at checkout or give you cash back into your Ebates account.  Last time I bought some staples at Sephora, I got $14 cash back!  All for just shopping.  Brilliant

http://www.ebates.com/

Food:

It is really hard to pick one food item that I love, but my current obsession is the Red Velvet Whoopie Pie at Starbucks.  I get so excited when one of these in my hot little hands that about two bites later it is gone.  Totally worth the 190 calories though.

Travel:

I love travelling to cities and exploring different neighbourhoods to shop, eat or people watch in.  Of all the places I've been, New York is the best place to do all those 3 things and more.  My first visit was about 5 years ago and I am planning my 3rd visit there this year.  

Colour:

Right now I am in love with my new magenta handbag, so I would have to say Pink!  I also love purple though I don't have enough of it in my wardrobe.  

Morning After Bag by Rebecca Minkoff

Skin Care:
Clinque Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector is amazing for evening out skin discolouration.
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P257535&shouldPaginate=true&categoryId=1254

Smiths Rosebud Salve - I discovered this now staple in my beauty regimen a few years back.  Does wonders for chapped lips and dry cuticles.  I even have my brother addicted to it, though he would never admit it!
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P42204&categoryId=B70


Those are just some of my current obessions...what are yours???

More than a manager...

Ok, so after some long thought about this blog I decided that it is going to cover more facets of my life and what interests me,  rather than just my career.

I guess what brought that on is that I've realized that I have to stop thinking about my career (or career success) as what defines me.  I, like many of you, am more than my career.  I am a sister, friend, daughter, granddaughter, cousin, world traveler, fashion lover, foodie, etc, etc.  But sometimes I fail to put those other roles first and realize that I need balance in my life.   It is really hard for me to put equal amounts of energy into every part of my life and sometimes the easy way is to focus on my career because I am good at what I do and there is immediate daily satisfaction in that.  Basically I'm addicted to achievement and working at relationships enough to "achieve" something is much harder than when I'm at work.

Hmmm...maybe this is one reason why I'm still single?!?!  Notice how girlfriend or wife is not on my list of roles (and hasn't been for a while either!).

Anyway, more posts to come about what's on my mind! Looking forward to sharing with you and having some great conversations.

Miss M